EIGHTEEN HUNDRED tonnes of salt are set to be stockpiled in preparation for another cold winter.

Redbridge Council is set to spend nearly £63,000 on storing the salt and will pour it on roads in the run-up to winter, while there will be 56 strategically located salt bins around the borough.

Its total costs for protecting Redbridge from the worst of the predicted snow and ice could amount to something similar to last year’s £294,000, which was £116,000 over budget.

The Chigwell Road Recycling Centre, in Woodford Bridge, will be used to store 600 tonnes of salt, with a temporary site in Station Road, Barkingside, and a shared-use facility in Dagenham also to be utilised.

Last December was the coldest in over 100 years, with snowfalls in the first week and from mid-month to Christmas. Winter 2009/10 had an average temperature of just 1.6 degrees celsius.

The Highways department’s Winter Maintenance fund has consistently gone over budget since 2008/09.

The proposals are due to be passed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, October 4.

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